Mickie Winkler▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒
-----Original Message-----
From: Menlo Park's Future
To: Menlo Park's Future
Sent: Sun, Jan 14, 2018 12:59 pm
Subject: CHARTER CITY? YES!
CHARTER CITY? YES!Fellow ResidentsThis Tuesday the City Council will decide whether to offer Menlo Park voters the option of
becoming a Charter City in November of 2018.Why is that so very important? Because as a charter city Menlo Park has the authority
to use a ranked choice voting system in conjunction with a hybrid at large district election process. General Law cities such as
ours cannot. Here’s the problem. Right now Menlo Park is being legally forced to adopt an election-by-district process in order to
give minorities more representation in city affairs. To achieve this, the city will be carved up into little fiefdoms with each
council member responsible to the members they represent. However, a hybrid at-large district system will assure that minority
districts are represented AND will also assure that some council members are elected city wide so local issues and decisions don’t
dominate the agenda. This Nov., new city Council members will be elected by district, and I fear that they will have no interest
in changing the process that got them elected, or in diluting their votes. The Charter- City decision must happen now—on Tuesday.A
Little More About Charter Cities: There is no downside to becoming a Charter city, and plenty to celebrate.Charters cities are not
bound by many state requirements and have more flexibility in managing their own affairs. Our neighbors, Mountain View, Redwood
City, Palo Alto, San Mateo etc. have elected to go the Charter-City route. The Process Of Becoming A Charter City Need Not Be
Convoluted. The City Council can draft the charter and we residents can vote on it in November.The charter itself can be short and
change-free, except on the salient election issue (effective only after the Nov. 2018 election). I apologize for this short
discussion of a complex issue. Menlo Park is being forced into making big changes to our election system in a small time horizon.
We don’t get to discuss the benefits or pitfalls of the change. But by becoming a charter city we give ourselves the power to
mitigate those changes. Sincerely and with trepidation. Lee Duboc (menlofuture@gmail.com [menlofuture@gmail.com])P.S. If you have
thoughts on this issue, you can share them with City Council at City.Council@menlopark.org [City.Council@menlopark.org].---
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